Page 181 of Blood Stone

Epilogue

Kate stumbled a little and just managed to keep her footing as she threaded her way through the trailer, past her desk and into the bedroom. She dropped onto the unmade bed with a sigh of relief.

Micheil pushed the bunched up sheet and covers onto the floor and sat on one corner.

Roman leaned against the doorjamb. “You’re not in a fit state to talk dirty let alone have sex, so what’s up, Kate? Why did you bring us back here?”

Kate smoothed out a wrinkle in the sheet, then realized she wasn’t improving anything. “I’m compl’ly bombed,” she agreed. “But ev’ryone else will think we’re having sex, which is jus’ fine.” She took a breath. “More truth time.”

They were both looking at her steadily. Simply waiting.

Kate took another breath, this one for control. She spoke as precisely as she could manage after four Bulldogs. “I am a CIA operative, recruited by them when I was fifteen years old, and held under deep cover for mos’ of my life. I replaced the real Kathrine Lindenstream, who died of Cystic Fybrosis during a double lung transplantation. For the last three days I have failed to report into my coordinator and in the next twelve hours I will be considered a rogue agent.”

The silence in the room was almost total.

Kate licked her lips. “You know, you could both look…well, surprised, or something.

Micheil cleared his throat. “It’s truth time, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“I already knew,” he said gently.

Kate drew in a startled breath. “No. How could you? No one knew. I’ve never told…” She swallowed, feeling cold and very, very sober. She looked up at Roman. “You, too?”

He lowered himself onto the bed. “I’ve known right from the start you were more than you were saying and a lot of small things told me it was probably the FBI or the CIA. But you didn’t say anything, so I didn’t.”

“I gave myself away?” She felt sick and it wasn’t just booze.

“Not to any normal human, you didn’t. But we’re not human.” Roman shrugged. Then he pointed to her hip. “You were trained for combat when they took you in, weren’t you? You’ve still got the instinct to reach for your gun on the back of your hip. The first day you met Micheil, in the basement car park when his limousine nearly knocked you over, you reached for it. You turned it into a tug on your bag, but I saw it, anyway.”

Micheil made a tiny sound and rolled his eyes. “That’swhy you warned me that Kate wasn’t what she seemed to be.”

Roman grimaced. “I was still trying to figure out what it meant myself. Later on, I decided it didn’t mean a damn, whatever it was. But I kept noticing tiny slips. Then there was the gun and the way you took out MacDonald. They weren’t just slips, they were billboards, declaring yourself to us.” Roman looked at her. “But you’d already failed to report in by then, hadn’t you?”

Kate nodded.

“You’re trying to say you’re…what, Kate?” Micheil asked, his tone still gentle. “Joining up with Nial’s campaign?”

She swallowed. “I guess that’s part of it. I’m joining up with you two. In every way. They sold you out, you know.”

Roman let out a breath. “That’swho told you Micheil was a vampire. Of course you would believe them. They’ve been directing your life since you were a teenager.”

Micheil held up a hand. “Wait, Roman. It’s a bit more complicated than that. Kate,whydid they tell you I was a vampire? Was that your assignment? To watch us?”

She shook her head, then halted the movement as the room spun and gasped. When everything was steady once more, she focused on Micheil and Roman once more.

“I love you both more than I can ever explain in words. This…what I’m doing now – it’s a tiny token, but it’s one way I can show to you that I reallymeanthis. You’re right, Roman. They’ve been controlling my life forever. For the last five days, I’ve been mentally telling them to fuck off and considered myself independent, my world to be my own and just like you were saying earlier, I don’t want to give it up now.” She sucked in a breath. “If that means I throw my lot in with Nial and fight his war, then so be it.”

Micheil wiped her cheek, then brushed his damp fingers on his jeans. “You need to report in to your coordinator tomorrow. Give him a very good, very authentic-sounding excuse for being late in reporting in.”

“But—”

“He’s right,” Roman said softly. “You don’t want the CIA on your tail.”

She bit her lip.

“You can have your life, Kate. You just have to negotiate it properly. And that means letting the CIA think you’re still on their side. There’s too many of the Pro Libertatis in power positions throughout the federal government. You can help Nial by staying plugged into the structure.” He smiled. “We’ll know what side you’re really on.”